Various sleeping problems are commonly experienced by many people. For example, a person sleeping on a flat mattress may experience back aches and pains due to the nonalignment of their spine while sleeping. Furthermore, if the person's spine is not in alignment during sleep, discomfort, or injury may occur to the vertebrae disks, back muscles, and/or connecting ligaments.
As another example of a sleeping problem, if a person is sleeping on top of their arm, circulation to portions of the arm may be hindered. Such reduced circulation may result in a tingling, numbness, or even pain in the blood-deprived regions of the arm.
Nasal and sinus congestion may be exacerbated by sleeping on a flat mattress when the person is suffering from a cold or the flu. Further, acid reflux or the like are known to be more damaging at night when the afflicted person is sleeping.
FIG. 1 shows a lateral view 102 and a posterior view 104 of a spine 106. The names of the various portions of the spine 106 are illustrated. FIG. 2 shows anatomical reference planes of a person 202, namely the Sagittal plane 204, the coronal plane 206, and the axial plane 208.
The lateral view 104 of person 202 illustrates a natural, healthy curvature of the spine 106 with respect to the coronal plane 206. The posterior view 104 of person 202 illustrates a natural, healthy alignment of the spine 106 with respect to the Sagittal plane 204. When spine 106 is aligned along the Sagittal plane 204 in the illustrated straight-line orientation, the person 202 will be in a relatively comfortable position (absent other spinal injury, such as herniated vertebrae disks, arthritis, or the like). When the spine 106 is not in the straight-line alignment along the Sagittal plane 204, the person 202 may experience some level of discomfort. If the nonalignment of the spine 106 along the Sagittal plane 204 is maintained for a relatively long period of time, such as when the person 202 is sleeping at night or resting in bed during recovery from an illness or the like, the level of discomfort may increase to a very undesirable level. As noted above, injury to the vertebrae disks, back muscles, and/or connecting ligaments may result.
FIG. 3 shows a front view of a person 202 laying in a sleep-on-side position 302 on a prior art mattress 304. The person's head 304 is laying on the person's lower arm 306. Pillow 308 is supporting the person's lower arm 306 and head 304. The person's upper shoulder 310, upper arm 312, upper hip 314, lower hip 316, upper leg 318, lower leg 320, upper foot 322, and lower foot 324 are illustrated for the person 204 laying in the sleep-on-side position 302. The trunk 326 is that portion of the person 202 from the shoulder blades 406, 408 to the hips 314, 316.
FIG. 4 shows a rear view of the person 202 laying in the sleep-on-side position 302 on the prior art mattress 304. The person's spine 106 (illustrated conceptually as a series of line-connected squares) is not in alignment along the Sagittal plane 204 while laying in the sleep-on-side position 302. The spine 106 is oriented in a curve about an upper region 402 near the shoulders (cervical and thoracic portions of spine 106) and in a curve about the lower region 404 near the hips (lumbar and sacrum portions of spine 106). The person's upper shoulder blade 406 and lower shoulder blade 408 are also conceptually illustrated, and are aligned along the illustrated plane 410.
While laying in the sleep-on-side position 302, the spinal curvatures 402 and 404 may result in compression of the vertebrae disks (not illustrated, but well known as the soft tissue separating individual vertebrae of the spine 106). Such compression of the vertebrae disks is undesirable, and may even result to injury of the vertebrae disks. Further, if the vertebrae disks are already injured, the compression of the vertebrae disks caused by the spinal curvatures 402 and 404 may exacerbate the pain and further injure the vertebrae disks.
As is apparent from FIG. 4, the plane 410 of the shoulder blades 406, 408 is oriented at a non-perpendicular angle with respect the spine 106. This orientation of the shoulder blades 406, 408, alone or in combination with the spinal curvatures at regions 402 and/or 404, may result in discomfort and/or injury to the person's muscles and/or ligaments (not illustrated). For example, the person 202 may experience muscle spasms, cramping, and/or other types of back pain.
Accordingly, it is desirable to facilitate alignment of the spine 106 along the Sagittal plane 204 when the person 202 is laying in a sleep-on-side position 302. Further, it is desirable to facilitate alignment of the spine 106 along the Sagittal plane 204 when the person 202 is confined to bed rest during recovery from an illness or injury.